While the United States focuses its efforts on supporting Ukraine and preventing the Middle East conflict from spreading to the region, Beijing is raising the temperature in the China Sea.
This is the background music that plays for analysts after there was the meeting held from Thursday and Friday in the capital of the United States by Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
His three-day visit, in which a meeting with President Joe Biden is even expected, was more than expected as a key moment to smooth tensions. This trip is seen as a decisive point to facilitate the realization of a possible meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping next month in San Francisco, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
After shaking hands, the Chinese diplomat noted that there are disagreements and different views between the United States and China. He stressed, however, that both countries really need not only to continue the dialogue, but to deepen it to avoid any misunderstandings and stabilize relations.
With the host, the guest emphasized that the two countries share important common interests and also challenges that they must solve by working together.
“Therefore, China and the United States must dialogue and do so in a more understanding way,” insisted Wang.
“It will be the way to return to a path of sustainable, healthy and stable development”, he reiterated. “I completely agree with the Minister of Foreign Affairs”, intervened Blinken, who had previously stated that the US is looking for “constructive talks” with the Asian giant.
In recent months, several top US officials have visited China, including Blinken himself, who went there in June after canceling his trip in February over the crisis over Chinese spy balloons that the US shot down in its territory
However, the dynamics of the Hamas-Israel conflict pose a fresh challenge that tests these green shoots in the relationship between the two superpowers. Washington hopes that Beijing can use its influence with Iran to prevent an escalation that would lead to a widening of the war in the region.
The priority of the Biden administration has been to prevent intense economic competition between the two major economies (his administration recently banned US funds from investing in China in technology sectors, such as AI), trade deals and bring under control such delicate affairs as Taiwan or the China Sea. But they have found common ground on which they can work together, such as the fight against climate change, although analysts do not expect immediate progress.
Although the Americans have been frustrated by China’s equidistant stance in the Ukraine war, a position that has been a de facto support for Russia and Vladimir Putin, there are indications that the two countries share a similar interest in aborting a wide war in the Middle East. China, one of the largest buyers of oil, could exert considerable influence over Iran and contain it as the hand that moves the strings of groups like Hamas.
“The Chinese executive certainly has an interest in preventing a direct confrontation between the Americans and the Iranians, because that could drive up the price of oil,” Jon Alterman, head of the Center’s Middle East program, told Reuters. of International Strategic Studies (CSIS).
Everything points to China not doing anything serious in this crisis. He wants to have a seat at the table when Israel’s problems in Gaza enter the path of resolution. But it also does not seem to have any interest in speeding up the resolution of the case.
Other experts stated that, in addition to concreting the meeting of presidents, the Biden Administration above all wanted to know the role that China can play in the crisis in the Middle East.